England were at Lord’s the same time last year as well, playing against West Indies. But none of the teams made that game more significant than the fact that England’s premier pacer, who has been so for decades, bid farewell to the sport. A year on from that game, not finding the same longevity with their existing pacers and conceding more than 1000 runs in the previous Test at Edgbaston would have made them miss the pacer in question more than any of their shoddy bowling displays of late. With India now off the mark as well, England need to stop the rot, and to do so, they will need to work better with the ball.
India, on the other hand, have essentially skipped their transition phase. And that is meant in a good way. That they thrashed England for over 1000 runs without turning the game into a useless run fest ending in a draw, despite seeing two of their star and more experienced top-order batters retire in succession just a few weeks ago, is stuff for fairytales. Add to that their spectacular bowling display in the absence of Jasprit Bumrah, and one realizes that England lost more than a game at Edgbaston.
The series has now reached the mid-point. But in cricket, the first half is hardly ever equal to the latter. Early dominance gets you the sort of confidence that bouncing back rarely does. Especially when you are playing in England, where one game of a five-Test series getting cut short with influence by rain isn’t a rarity.
Team Overview:
England, finally, get ready to welcome Jofra Archer back into the team to bolster their bowling attack, in place of Josh Tongue, who had a bad time bowling at Edgbaston. The rest of their team remains the same, which is so characteristic of the kind of team they have become. This is the first time since 2022 that Joe Root has not scored a century in a Test series, and while there are still three more games to go, the prolonged absence of big runs from his bat is hurting England.
Generally, too, their top order has been frugal in putting runs on the board. The recently rejuvenated Ollie Pope, who scored a century against Zimbabwe and followed it up with another against India in Leeds, managed only 32 runs in the three innings since. Similar is the case with Ben Stokes’ batting, who has seen a consistent drop in his batting average over the past two years. Jamie Smith, however, is a bright spot England are relieved to have. He is averaging a staggering 178 in this series so far, and from how he batted in the last innings at Edgbaston, as the rest of his teammates kept falling, he isn’t ready to stop just yet.
Akash Deep, in the last game, ensured India do not get too attached to Bumrah swinging the cherry on command. He ran through the English side in both innings, taking a total of 10 wickets and putting Mohammad Siraj’s 7-wicket tally in the shadows. With Bumrah likely to get back in the team for the second of his three-game limit, Shubman Gill’s winning recipe of taking 20 wickets wouldn’t be too difficult.
Gill himself has become the right antidote for India’s top-order batting problem. He amassed 430 runs across both innings in the last game, the second-most by a batter in one game in Test history. Nitish Kumar Reddy did not see much success in his first game of the series, and India wouldn’t be wrong if they decide to go with Kuldeep Yadav for the game.
Head-to-Head Matches:
India and England have played a staggering 138 matches between them. Of these, 50 games ended in a draw. The remaining 52 games were won by England, and 36 by India.
Weather and Pitch Report:
Lord’s Stadium wore a different attire for the World Test Championship (WTC) Final, where the bowlers enjoyed plenty of success until the last day. The surface had some green on the eve of the game, but for all we know, it could disappear with a session of intense sun that is forecasted to shine upon the ground.
Prediction:
India are on a roll, and everything seems to be on their side. England will have a hard time stopping them, but it’s a matter of survival for them.
Where to Watch:
India: Sony Sports, JioHotstar
UK: Sky Sports and Sky Go/Now
Pakistan: Tapmad
South Africa: SuperSport Cricket, SuperSport Grandstand, DSTV app
US and Canada: Willow TV
